Darrell Wallace Jr – Frontstretchhttps://frontstretch.com
Best seat at the track, best view on the web!Fri, 09 Dec 2016 21:38:21 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.1Pace Laps: A Wild Day of Playoff Racing in Charlottehttps://frontstretch.com/2016/10/09/pace-laps-a-wild-day-of-playoff-racing-in-charlotte/
Mon, 10 Oct 2016 01:36:08 +0000https://frontstretch.com/?p=125586Sprint Cup: The Day the Chasers Fell – Though that may sound a bit severe, Sunday’s Bank of America 500 from Charlotte Motor Speedway did seem repetitious with Chaser after Chaser falling out of contention. Starting early with Kevin Harvick, who suffered a mechanical issue on Lap 155, five Chasers found significant issues throughout the …

]]>Sprint Cup: The Day the Chasers Fell – Though that may sound a bit severe, Sunday’s Bank of America 500 from Charlotte Motor Speedway did seem repetitious with Chaser after Chaser falling out of contention.

Starting early with Kevin Harvick, who suffered a mechanical issue on Lap 155, five Chasers found significant issues throughout the 334-lap race. Joey Logano had two right-front tires go flat, with the second bringing the No. 22 Team Penske Ford to the garage while Denny Hamlin blew a motor with 25 laps to go and Chase Elliott and Austin Dillon were swallowed up in a multi-car crash with 74 laps remaining.

To compound their problems, Chasers Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth came home 1-2, cushioning their gap over the cutoff spot of ninth.

So, in a round that features Talladega Superspeedway, was Charlotte the wild-card race after all or have we just witnessed the beginning of a nutty round?

Carl Edwards got away pretty well on Sunday, finishing 12th. However, he said the craziness has only begun to decide the Round of 8 in just two weeks. The feeling must run true throughout the garage, as Charlotte gave birth to a heap of desperation and anxiety for the 12 Chase drivers come Kansas next week. –Zach Catanzareti

XFINITY Series: One point makes the difference for Bubba Wallace – Darrell Wallace, Jr. was having a rough night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Damage from an early incident put the No. 6 car multiple laps down. As Wallace struggled to run fast laps, it looked like his championship hopes were over.

However, Wallace was able to pick up several spots in the closing laps. That late charge saved Wallace’s Chase. In fact, he avoided elimination by finishing with one point more than Ty Dillon in the Round of 12. Wallace will advance to the next round of the Chase. Dillon will not.

Dillon’s points deficit from a crash at Kentucky Speedway proved too big to overcome. The No. 3 team has performed well since Kentucky, but now Brendan Gaughan will be the only Richard Childress Racing driver competing for the title. On the other hand, both Wallace and teammate Ryan Reed will represents Roush Fenway racing in the inaugural XFINITY Chase Round of 8. – Bryan Gable

Sports Cars: Champions Crowned in Salinas – This past weekend, Pirelli World Challenge settled their 2016 championship chases at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The most interesting news of the weekend came Sunday morning when Pirelli World Challenge officials admitted that they screwed up the GT points. Back in May, Andrew Palmer turned in the fastest lap in Race No. 1 at Lime Rock, which technically gave him the pole for Race No. 2. Unfortunately, Palmer was injured in a horrible crash in the morning warm-up and was unable to take part in Race No. 2. Alvaro Parente moved up to the pole and then won the race. Officials originally gave Parente the full 117 points for winning from pole. He shouldn’t have gotten the maximum points. So, just a few hours before the final race of the season, officials stripped Parente of seven points and gave those points to Palmer.

The point shift resulted in a near dead heat between Parente and Wright Motorsports‘ Patrick Long. In the final 50-minute race, the two fought hard for the title. It appeared that the race would end under yellow after Drew Regitz crashed his Audi, but the green flew for a one-lap shootout. On the final lap, Long tried to pass Johnny O’Connell for the win, only to have contact that put Long’s No. 58 Porsche in the dirt. That allowed Parente to pass and win the title. O’Connell was originally flagged as the winner, but he was penalized 2.1 seconds for the contact with Long. That gave the win to Parente and dropped O’Connell to fifth. Martin Fuentes had already clinched the GTA title in Sonoma. In GT Cup, Alec Udell also clinched in Sonoma and stepped out of the car in order to focus on Sprint-X.

GTS saw Brett Sandberg clinch the championship in his No. 13 KTM X-Bow GT4 on Saturday when Lawson Aschenbach‘s car suddenly slowed coming to the finish of Race No. 1. The Touring Car ranks saw Toby Grahovec clinch the Touring Car championship, but only just barely after Patrick Gallagher (who missed Lime Rock and was thus eligible for double points since the Touring Car classes were added to the weekend last minute) won both races from pole. Touring Car A saw Elivan Goulart claim the title provisionally with a pair of second-place finishes while Tom O’Gorman won the TCB title in a Honda Fit that also won a SCCA National Championship at the recent Runoffs.

Sprint-X saw Mills Racing win all the titles in GT. Kuno Wittmer won the Pro Drivers’ Championship despite missing this past weekend due to competing in the VLN race at the Nordschleife, the infamous original version of the Nürburgring in Germany (Wittmer plans to compete in the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring in 2017). Michael Mills won the Sport championship and won Race No. 2 with BMW factory racer John Edwards on Sunday after Black Swan Racing was penalized due to violating the minimum pit time rule. In GTS, TRG teammate Kris Wilson and Max Riddle won both of the drivers’ titles on the strength of a pair of second-place finishes. – Phil Allaway

]]>Couch Potato Tuesday: Always Tell Viewers Why the Caution Is Outhttps://frontstretch.com/2016/08/29/couch-potato-tuesday-always-tell-viewers-why-the-caution-is-out/
https://frontstretch.com/2016/08/29/couch-potato-tuesday-always-tell-viewers-why-the-caution-is-out/#commentsTue, 30 Aug 2016 02:24:33 +0000https://frontstretch.com/?p=123374Low-downforce racing is always interesting; my takeaway so far of the three low-downforce races is that the package makes NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars handle a little like the trucks in the Camping World Truck Series — very susceptible to being swept around. However, we only have Kentucky and Michigan International speedways to base this …

]]>Low-downforce racing is always interesting; my takeaway so far of the three low-downforce races is that the package makes NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars handle a little like the trucks in the Camping World Truck Series — very susceptible to being swept around.

However, we only have Kentucky and Michigan International speedways to base this on. If the package gets used in 2017 (it’s still provisional as of this point), then we’ll see how it works at the other non-plate tracks.

Anyway, as for this weekend? Let’s just say that — and it’s amazing this has to be said at all — broadcasters need to start telling their viewers why the caution flag is flown. Every time. No ifs, ands or buts.

Pure Michigan 400

Sunday afternoon brought the Sprint Cup Series out to play on the 2-mile, d-shaped oval in Brooklyn, Mich. But outside of the racing itself, the big story continues to be Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his continued absence from the No. 88 due to a concussion suffered at Michigan in June.

On Sunday, NBC Sports Network decided to get some concrete facts. To that degree, Nate Ryan traveled to Massachusetts to talk to doctors of neurology at Boston University. The goal here was to understand what happens when a driver suffers a concussion.

NBCSN went out of its way to state that Drs. Robert Cantu and Ann McKee have not treated Earnhardt, but Cantu in particular is really concerned with the symptoms. He seems to think racing immediately afterward worsened the symptoms.

My best guess is that Earnhardt has suffered at least six concussions. Five of them were noted in the piece (the Auto Club Speedway one he hid in 2002, Dover International Speedway in 2003, the two in 2012 and Michigan in June). The Corvette crash at Sonoma Raceway in 2004 might have been a sixth one.

If you’ve had that many concussions, it doesn’t take much to mess you up. I don’t know what the future holds for Earnhardt, but I’m happy that he’s taking the situation seriously.

Dale Jarrett also added in his own experiences from getting a concussion in the inaugural Protection One 400 at Kansas Speedway in 2001.

The idea of losing an entire race weekend from your memory like that (as Jarrett claims happened) is frightening. Those drivers side hits are nasty, simple as that.

During the race itself, the biggest issue I had was how NBCSN handled the third caution. That was the yellow that flew for Clint Bowyer having issues (Bowyer later stated that he had the grandpappy of vibrations).

The yellow came out during a commercial break (of course, this is always trouble). Since the yellow flew right after a round of stops, there weren’t a lot of people who pitted, but a couple of notables did, like Jimmie Johnson. NBCSN covered what happened to Johnson, then went back to commercial without telling viewers just why the heck the yellow was out. Even going to Twitter didn’t help me much.

NASCAR officially considers the third caution to be a debris caution, but we certainly didn’t see any of that. Coming out of the second commercial, there was still nothing. Finally, right before NBCSN went to another break, it mentioned Bowyer’s issue, as to say, “By the way, Clint Bowyer brought this yellow out.” I’m sorry, but that’s not going to cut it. I know that in the regular scheme of things, this was a minor instance during the race, but NBCSN screwed this up royally.

Viewers sat there for something like seven minutes before we got indication as to why the yellow was out. NBCSN had multiple opportunities to rectify that, but chose not to. I’d rather not see NBCSN repeat that.

Later on, we got the lowdown from Bowyer as to what went down. That just left me confused as well. I couldn’t figure out if Bowyer had the problem when he left after his regularly scheduled stop or after he came back in to fix the loose wheel.

Luckily, that was the low point of the day. Much of the rest of the broadcast was reasonably solid. Tire wear was a sizable story on Sunday. While we didn’t see any failures of note, there were cords showing, starting with Ryan Blaney on lap 61. Viewers got to see what the tires looked like coming off a couple cars. Excessive wear on the inside of the tire was a thing. Steve Letarte immediately identified the issue as being heat-related; Goodyear co-signed that explanation.

Sunday’s race was quick in a number of ways. It was the third fastest Cup race ever run at Michigan, and as a result, there was a lot of time for post-race coverage. But NBCSN could have talked to more people in the 1.75 hours of post-race coverage (combined between the broadcast itself, NASCAR America Post-Race and NASCAR Victory Lap) than it actually did. I feel like I saw the same interview with Kyle Larson three times — by that, I mean the post-post-race interview, not the Victory Lane interview where he dedicated his victory to Bryan Clauson.

But the broadcast was decent. Michigan is another one of those tracks where you get a lot of action in the first few laps after a restart, but it thins out after a while. The ultra-low downforce package doesn’t really change that much. If anything, it makes handling a little more unpredictable. Drivers can run down each other, though, which is crucial. Outside of those first few laps, viewers did get to see a little action for position, but there was only so much to go around.

Road America 180 Fired Up by Johnsonville

The XFINITY Series returned to Road America for its seventh race on the 4-plus-mile road course on Saturday. While a yellow did fly for rain during the race, the track managed to stay dry, much unlike the previous road course event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

While there was no action on the rain tires Saturday, it did look like it was going to rain early. While it was never overtly mentioned early on, it appeared to be quite foggy. As a result, the start of the race was pushed up a little bit just in case. This was not noted on Countdown to Green. It just ended about 13 minutes early.

The primary piece that aired on the show was a look at Kenny Habul, who has been a regular in XFINITY road races since 2012. It talked about how Habul got into racing watching events like the then-James Hardie 1000 back in his native Australia. He raced a fair amount in Australia before stepping away to focus on business.

Habul also talks about the establishment of SunEnergy1 in Mooresville, N.C., and his admiration of Rick Hendrick as a fellow businessman who can race as well (Hendrick has two career starts in Cup and one each in the XFINITY and Truck series).

It seemed like there was more to the piece, but due to time, it got cut. Look, I’m a completionist — I want to know as much as I can. I’ve only briefly met Habul in the past, but he seems like an interesting guy. Having covered sports car racing, there are quite a few drivers that have similar setups to Habul in that discipline. Also, the admiration of Hendrick seemed to come out of nowhere. Yes, Habul drives for a Hendrick-affiliated team, but he’s only been there since January or so. It felt like he was kissing up to Hendrick there.

The race itself was quite interesting with different strategies in play. There was a decent amount of racing for position that NBCSN brought viewers, but things can get spread out really quick on a 4-mile road course. When that happened, the focus tended to stay at the very front of the field. At least those guys stayed together and made it interesting.

I didn’t particularly like the grouping of commercials during the race. Yes, there was a number of NonStop breaks, but the network managed to do three of them over a span of six laps. I know that a green-flag lap at Road America takes 2.25 minutes at full speed, but that just seemed excessive. They should have been spread out a little bit better.

The broadcast was somewhat limited at times, but NBCSN did the best with what it had. The Garrett Smithley crash was a good example — Smithley crashed at the beginning of the third lap on the frontstretch. Cameras only caught the aftermath of the crash.

However, Dale Jarrett seemed to see the crash happen in real time and noted that Smithley’s car just turned right in the middle of the straightaway. He was of the opinion that there was some kind of mechanical failure at work there.

Viewers were able to see Smithley walk away and get into the ambulance after the big hit that apparently moved the wall. Smithley appears to be OK, but I would have liked to see an interview with him (if he was physically up to it) so that viewers could have gotten a better idea of what went down. Perhaps we could have gotten the explanation above on TV as opposed to on Twitter.

Dave Burns and Dale Jarrett did a solid job in the broadcast booth while going with three pit reporters as opposed to the two that have been used at the other standalone races was a good move. It allowed for additional content to be brought to the viewers. Unlike Michigan, where tires were wearing badly, tire issues at Road America were mainly self-inflicted. That didn’t stop the pit reporters from bringing us the necessary issues.

The only thing I found confusing on the broadcast is how the heck Darrell Wallace, Jr.’s No. 6 ended up overheating. It looked like a choo-choo train coming into the pits. My guess is that he got a bunch of grass and mud caked onto his grill, but I’m not sure.

~

Next weekend is Throwback Weekend at Darlington, which has caught on big time for its second year. Labor Day weekend is traditionally a very busy race weekend, and this year is no exception. In addition to the throwback weekend for Cup and XFINITY teams, the Camping World Truck Series races Sunday afternoon at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. The Verizon IndyCar Series will return to Watkins Glen in a race that replaced Boston on the schedule. Finally, Formula 1 returns to Monza for what will probably be the shortest race of the year time-wise. Listings can be found in the TV Schedule tab.

I will provide critiques of the Sprint Cup and XFINITY races from Darlington, in addition to some road racing action from Ontario for next week’s edition of Couch Potato Tuesday here at Frontstretch. The Camping World Truck Series race on Saturday turned into nothing short of a quagmire to cover, so that will be critiqued later this week in the Critic’s Annex.

If you have a gripe with me, or just want to say something about my critique, feel free to post in the comments below. Even though I can’t always respond, I do read your comments and I’m happy with the increased number of comments so far this year. Also, if you want to like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter, please click on the appropriate icons. If you would like to contact either of NASCAR’s media partners, click on either of the links below.

As always, if you choose to contact a network by email, do so in a courteous manner. Network representatives are far more likely to respond to emails that ask questions politely rather than emails full of rants and vitriol.

]]>https://frontstretch.com/2016/08/29/couch-potato-tuesday-always-tell-viewers-why-the-caution-is-out/feed/8Darrell Wallace, Jr., Leidos Agree to Multi-Race Sponsorshiphttps://frontstretch.com/2016/08/24/darrell-wallace-jr-leidos-agree-to-multi-race-sponsorship/
https://frontstretch.com/2016/08/24/darrell-wallace-jr-leidos-agree-to-multi-race-sponsorship/#commentsWed, 24 Aug 2016 21:44:26 +0000https://frontstretch.com/?p=123091Leidos, a U.S. based company dealing with homeland security, civil defense and intelligence, will partner with Roush Fenway Racing on the No. 6 machine of Darrell Wallace, Jr. at select dates through the end of the NASCAR XFINITY Series season. The company will serve as the primary sponsor for four events in the series, including Dover International …

]]>Leidos, a U.S. based company dealing with homeland security, civil defense and intelligence, will partner with Roush Fenway Racing on the No. 6 machine of Darrell Wallace, Jr. at select dates through the end of the NASCAR XFINITY Series season.

The company will serve as the primary sponsor for four events in the series, including Dover International Speedway on Oct. 1, Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 7, Kansas Speedway on Oct. 15 and Texas Motor Speedway on Nov. 5.

Wallace currently sits in the ninth position in NXS points and has a second-place finish in the spring Dover event earlier this season, which will be the debut venue for the Leidos Ford Mustang.

In all, Wallace holds three top 5s and seven top 10s in his second full-time season in the series driving for Roush; in 2015, he finished seventh in points after snagging three top 5s and 14 top 10s throughout the season.

]]>https://frontstretch.com/2016/08/24/darrell-wallace-jr-leidos-agree-to-multi-race-sponsorship/feed/1Darrell Wallace, Jr. Unfulfilled After Salvaging Top Five in Kentuckyhttps://frontstretch.com/2016/07/09/bubba-wallace-unfulfilled-after-salvaged-top-five-in-kentucky/
Sat, 09 Jul 2016 04:17:45 +0000https://frontstretch.com/?p=120253For many drivers, sneaking into the top 5 with a late-race pit call would be something to celebrate. However, for Darrell Wallace, Jr., and Roush Fenway Racing, all it does it remind them that they need to be better. After running just outside of the top five for the majority of Friday’s ALSCO 300 at …

]]>For many drivers, sneaking into the top 5 with a late-race pit call would be something to celebrate. However, for Darrell Wallace, Jr., and Roush Fenway Racing, all it does it remind them that they need to be better.

After running just outside of the top five for the majority of Friday’s ALSCO 300 at Kentucky Speedway, Wallace was one of many drivers in the back-half of the top 10 to come to pit road during the caution that preceded NASCAR Overtime to end the race.

With fresh rubber, Wallace maneuvered his way past Elliott Sadler on the race’s final lap to snag a fifth-place result.

“It’s a good night for us, but we’ve got to be better,” Wallace said. “We finished fifth, so that was a good rebound from when he showed up here at Kentucky.”

Starting 11th, Wallace dropped as far back as 14th over the race’s opening stint, but his No. 6 RFR team adjusted his car throughout the night to give Wallace a machine capable of running inside of the top 10.

“We were way off in left field, so we worked hard all night long,” Wallace said. “There were no mistakes on pit road. I kept sliding through, so I need to work on that. The mistakes are on me, but my guys are awesome.”

While last season showcased a strong RFR team in the XFINITY Series while the Sprint Cup Series struggled, this season the roles have been reversed. As Roush’s Cup program has begun to turn things around, the XFINITY program has struggled. Still, Wallace is confident that his team’s on the right path to success.

“They’ve (RFR) really been hitting on some stuff on the Cup side and it’s kind of trickling down to the XFINITY shop, so we just have to keep taking notes and keep trying things.”

Ultimately, though, while Wallace is proud of his team, the second-year driver understands that improvements still need to be made as the XFINITY Series’ inaugural Chase draws near.

“They did a great job, but we’ve got to be better,” Wallace said. “Fifth is good, but we’re getting close to Chase time, so we need to start winning.”

]]>Eyes on XFINITY: Darrell Wallace, Jr.’s Fine Does Not Help NASCAR’s Imagehttps://frontstretch.com/2016/07/07/eyes-on-xfinity-wallace-fine-does-not-improve-nascars-image/
https://frontstretch.com/2016/07/07/eyes-on-xfinity-wallace-fine-does-not-improve-nascars-image/#commentsThu, 07 Jul 2016 11:26:49 +0000https://frontstretch.com/?p=120062Here we go again. On Wednesday, news broke that NASCAR had fined another driver for comments the sanctioning body saw as disparaging to the sport. This time, it was XFINITY Series driver Darrell Wallace, Jr. who drew the ire of NASCAR following last week’s race at Daytona. The sanctioning body fined Wallace $15,000 for a …

]]>Here we go again. On Wednesday, news broke that NASCAR had fined another driver for comments the sanctioning body saw as disparaging to the sport. This time, it was XFINITY Series driver Darrell Wallace, Jr. who drew the ire of NASCAR following last week’s race at Daytona. The sanctioning body fined Wallace $15,000 for a twitter post in which the driver likened NASCAR’s officials to “muppets.”

Got the muppets up there officiating tonight! Never know how to react under pressure… Whatta joke

NASCAR cited Wallace’s actions as a violation of the sport’s Member Conduct rules. Section 12.8a of the Rule Book dictates that part of a NASCAR Member’s responsibility is “correct and proper conduct, both on and off the race track.” Additionally, Section 12.8.1.b lists offenses that can draw fines and/or probation. Among those offenses are “Disparaging the sport and/or NASCAR’s leadership,” as well as “Verbal Abuse of a NASCAR Official, media members, fans, etc.”

Under the letter of the law, NASCAR did not overstep its authority in fining Wallace. Bubba’s case is not exactly like Tony Stewart’s earlier this year. Stewart received a fine on the same grounds as Wallace, but it was debatable as to whether or not Stewart was really disparaging the sport or offering a harsh criticism of the lug nut policy. Since Wallace directed his tweet at the officials themselves, it would be difficult to argue that he did not violate the rules.

However, the penalty is part of a larger pattern that is becoming problematic for NASCAR. In an effort to keep the image of the sport pristine, NASCAR has taken to fining or otherwise attempting to silence competitors who publicly criticize the sanctioning body’s decisions. This approach is unwise. Not only does NASCAR come off as looking rather thin-skinned, but the sanctioning body may also be accused of trying to remove, not solve, the image-related problem that Wallace’s tweet presents.

To understand why Wallace was so upset in the first place, it’s important to understand his role in the ending of last week’s race. On lap 15, Wallace was on the receiving end of a bump draft gone wrong from Brennan Poole. Wallace’s No. 6 Ford went sliding down the backstretch, triggering the first big crash of the night. Despite the damage to his car, Wallace was able to continue, and he even found himself in the top 5 as the laps wound down.

The real trouble started under caution when NASCAR was setting up for the overtime restart. NASCAR deemed that Wallace, who was trying to save fuel during the caution laps, did not consistently maintain pace car speed. As a result, NASCAR ordered Wallace and Justin Allgaier to switch places before the restart (the idea being that Allagier’s pass on Wallace under caution was legal since Wallace was not moving fast enough). Instead of restarting fourth, Wallace took the green flag from the fifth position. On the final lap, he was caught up in another big crash, sliding across the backstretch again before slamming the inside wall. The final incident relegated Wallace to a 20th-place finish.

Darrell Wallace Jr. may have used the wrong platform to voice his frustration over NASCAR’s officiating (Photo: Matthew T. Thacker/NKP)

To make matters worse for Wallace, NASCAR delayed throwing the caution flag until after the leaders had exited turn 4 and were racing down the frontstretch. Allgaier wound up losing the race by inches to Aric Almirola, who appeared to be ahead at the moment of caution. Although nothing is certain in the closing laps of restrictor plate races, it is reasonable to assume that Wallace would have had a better chance at missing the crash if he had restarted in Allgaier’s position. So when the race was over, Wallace took to Twitter to vent his frustration, clearly referencing the odd timing of the caution when questioning the ability of the officials to react under pressure.

No doubt that Wallace was not the only one who was wondering what the officials were thinking. At first it appeared that NASCAR was going to let the leaders race back to the start/finish line, only to abandon that plan about five seconds before Almirola or Allgaier would have reached the checkered flag. NASCAR later said that race officials were not sure if cars were just spinning on the backstretch or if anybody had hit the wall. Even so, the timing of the race-ending caution was not either in the best interest of safety or competition (another second’s delay would have made Allgaier the winner.) The finish at Daytona, combined with a final lap caution at Talladega several months ago that also left fans scratching their heads, gives the impression that NASCAR does not have a consistent protocol for officiating superspeedway finishes.

This is the real problem at hand. Fans and competitors alike need to know that NASCAR can enforce its rules consistently. Attempting to fine Wallace into silence does not help the sport to justify its late-race decisions.

It is true that Wallace is a NASCAR member, and as such he is a representative of the sport. And NASCAR should be allowed to protect its image – the sanctioning body cannot have influential people express whatever opinion they want and not expect any consequences to follow from the expression.

However, NASCAR’s rebuke of Wallace’s tweet could carry negative consequences as well. Fining everyone who says something unfavorable about the sanctioning body comes off as NASCAR’s way of saying “We don’t care what your concern is,” or “We don’t want your input, we just want your agreement.” NASCAR’s endorsements and praise for the open communication fostered by the Drivers’ Council and the Race Team Alliance ring rather hollow when compared to its “no disparagement of the sport” edict.

Besides, Wallace is a man who will often provide amusing soundbites and off-the-cuff remarks. He could have said something a lot worse than “muppets.” Sure, he could have used better judgement when airing his frustrations, but this is professional stock car racing and cooler heads will not always prevail. NASCAR officials may not appreciate being likened to Gonzo or Fozzie Bear, but is the insult so great as to warrant $15,000 from the offender?

The truth is that NASCAR does need to rework its overtime procedures, ideally coming up with a system in which a late caution would not jeopardize a green flag finish. That would be solving the problem, rather than trying to brush aside a driver’s concerns and pretend like a problem does not exist. NASCAR may have an image to protect, but heavy-handed action toward competitors will do more harm than good.

]]>https://frontstretch.com/2016/07/07/eyes-on-xfinity-wallace-fine-does-not-improve-nascars-image/feed/3Darrell Wallace Jr. Fined $15,000 for ‘Muppets’ Tweethttps://frontstretch.com/2016/07/06/darrell-wallace-jr-fined-15000-for-muppets-tweet/
https://frontstretch.com/2016/07/06/darrell-wallace-jr-fined-15000-for-muppets-tweet/#commentsWed, 06 Jul 2016 16:20:31 +0000https://frontstretch.com/?p=120050Darrell Wallace, Jr. spoke his mind on Friday, and for that, he was fined Wednesday. NASCAR docked Wallace $15,000 for calling NASCAR officials “Muppets” on Twitter following the NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Daytona International Speedway on July 1. The tweet was in reference to the timing of the final caution flag of the race, …

NASCAR docked Wallace $15,000 for calling NASCAR officials “Muppets” on Twitter following the NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Daytona International Speedway on July 1. The tweet was in reference to the timing of the final caution flag of the race, which came after a multi-car wreck on the backstretch on the final lap. The caution was flown as the lead pack exited turn 4 on the final lap, coming to what would have been the checkered flag.

“Got the muppets up there officiating tonight!” Wallace wrote shortly after the race ended. “Never know how to react under pressure… Whatta joke.”

Got the muppets up there officiating tonight! Never know how to react under pressure… Whatta joke

]]>https://frontstretch.com/2016/07/06/darrell-wallace-jr-fined-15000-for-muppets-tweet/feed/3NASCAR Mailbox: Daytona Chaos Has Fans Asking the Tough Questionshttps://frontstretch.com/2016/07/06/nascar-mailbox-chaos-at-daytona/
https://frontstretch.com/2016/07/06/nascar-mailbox-chaos-at-daytona/#commentsWed, 06 Jul 2016 08:10:25 +0000https://frontstretch.com/?p=120009With the second half of the NASCAR season upon us, there are many questions that have been put behind. The annual 4th of July weekend at Daytona International Speedway assures fans that the season is full swing, usually creating a hectic race. The race lived up to expectations, leaving fans wondering about the package due to …

]]>With the second half of the NASCAR season upon us, there are many questions that have been put behind. The annual 4th of July weekend at Daytona International Speedway assures fans that the season is full swing, usually creating a hectic race.

The race lived up to expectations, leaving fans wondering about the package due to one driver – Brad Keselowski – leading over 100 laps at the superspeedway. It’s nothing that hasn’t been seen before, but the passionate fan base wants their driver to be up front, able to make passes for the lead, similar to the package from 10+ years ago.

There is something about the Daytona race in July that makes it special and it’s hard to understand. Frantic racing for the win, underdogs, a Chase berth on the line, all of these things accumulate to hard racing, which explained Saturday night’s bent sheet metal and hurt feelings.

Yes, there was a 19-car pileup just past halfway, but the big one is always going to happen in tight racing. The competitors know that a big crash could be right around the next turn. But with this race being the last wild card until the Chase, combined with a tight bubble separating 13th to 20th, one wrong move could crumple a season.

Thankfully, there were no airborne crashes in this week’s edition of NASCAR chaos on a restrictor plate track, but fans were still wondering why it’s hard to pass and what this means going forward for Talladega in the fall.

Q: “Should NASCAR do anything with the plate race package before the next Chase race at Talladega? Or do you think the racing is fine the way it is? I was frustrated with the inability for anyone to pass the leader Saturday night… It seems like my guy, Dale Jr. is suddenly stuck in the pack and can’t go.” – John Jefferies, Atlanta, GA

The two tracks are such different animals within themselves, causing the triumph of wining and the agony of defeat. This package has been used since the tandem draft was broken up, and remembering back to four or five years ago, that was a mess.

It seemed like it was difficult for the drivers to pass last Saturday night, especially up front. But isn’t it supposed to be that way? (Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

Currently, the package isn’t necessarily the problem, but like every option, it could be tweaked.

NASCAR is not going to do anything with the restrictor plate package before Talladega in October because of where that race sits. It’s the cutoff to make the Round of 8 in the Chase. Expect to see familiar foes at the front – Keselowski, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, etc. The Nos. 2 and 18 teams have finished in first and second each of the last two plate races. I think you can safely say they’ve mastered the package.

If this question is solely based off the fact that Earnhardt doesn’t have a top-20 finish in the three plate races this season, then Junior Nation needs the package to be fixed. Last year he won half of the races on plate tracks and finished second and third in the other two events, leading 256 laps along the way. In the other 32 races combined, the No. 88 was out front for just 31 circuits.

More times than not, the team that leads the most laps wins the plate race. Denny Hamlin won the Daytona 500 after being out front for 95 laps while Keselowski led 115 on Saturday evening.

The bottom line is the racing isn’t all that bad at plate races, even when it isn’t a crashfest. This isn’t ballet, people. It is hard to pass the leader … and it should be.

Q: “After what happened Friday night at the XFINITY race, the way they threw the caution, should Aric Almirola still have an asterisk next to his name? Or did he finally win one fair and square?” – Ryan Nemell, Pueblo, CO

A: How do you determine whether or not someone has an asterisk next to their name? I mean Almirola stated it during his post-race interview, but that doesn’t mean it’s correct.

Sure, he got credit for winning at Milwaukee in 2007, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, because he started the race, though he was later replaced by Hamlin after the initial green flag. Technically he got credit for leading 107 laps that June evening. Though he wasn’t driving the car, that’s about one-third of the laps he’s been credited with leading in this series.

Back to Friday evening, Almirola won the race fair and square. The ending looked strange because 20 seconds went by before NASCAR threw the caution, but they had to throw the caution knowing and not knowing what was happening on the backstretch.

There were some hard hits in that wreck. Darrell Wallace, Jr. smacked the inside wall hall hard and took to Twitter following the race criticizing NASCAR for the way they called the ending.

Got the muppets up there officiating tonight! Never know how to react under pressure… Whatta joke

Ultimately, NASCAR did the right thing and Almirola should and did get credited for the victory. He was out front when NASCAR decided to throw the caution. I’ll estimate and say that the field had 200 yards before they crossed the finish line, so fans won’t understand why they threw the caution, but NASCAR obviously felt like they needed to.

All of Almirola’s victories, at least in the top two series, have question marks around them, two of which came at Daytona. In 2014, he won his way into the Chase for the Sprint Cup by staying out, while others pitted and the race was called due to a downpour. Again, that’s not his fault. On that day, the No. 43 team outsmarted the competition.

It’s more of a funny coincidence how all three races played out. For each one of them, fans sometimes say ‘oh he didn’t earn this one,’ but he absolutely did. Whether or not you agree with the NASCAR rule book is up to you, but all teams are required to play by the rules and he’s done nothing wrong in any of those three events.

If anyone is to complain about the ruling, it should be Justin Allgaier. If NASCAR had let the field make the dash to the checkered flag, I think he would have won. But this is an easy decision and NASCAR got it correct. There is no asterisk.

Q: “Who do you think is the biggest free agent left on the market now that some of the big names have re-signed with their current teams and Tony Stewart is 100 percent retiring?” – Jamie Reichert, Wilton, CT

The aforementioned Almirola, Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard, Ryan Newman and arguably the best driver in the Cup Series that hasn’t won a title – Denny Hamlin – all have expiring contracts at the end of the 2016 season. Let’s take them one-by-one.

It’s unlikely that Denny Hamlin will be leaving Joe Gibbs Racing, but the possibility is still out there until — or unless — he re-signs. (Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

Almirola and Smithfield, which has stepped up its primary sponsorship to 31 races this year, both have expiring contracts this season, but Richard Petty Motorsports is going through a rough patch. He has yet to record a top-10 finish, sitting 25th in the standings. Since 2013, his lowest points finish was 18th, but he referred to this year as “absolutely horrible” after his win in the XFINITY Series. If Smithfield continues to back him, he will probably end up back at RPM.

I don’t see McMurray going anywhere. There aren’t many places to go, plus Chip Ganassi has been loyal to him in the past. Compared to last year, the No. 1 team is certainly struggling, accumulating just three top 10s in 17 races. Still, I expect him to remain with Ganassi.

Menard might be the most interesting one because he has full-time sponsorship from his dad, John Menard. He will definitely have a ride, but possibly not with Richard Childress Racing. The No. 27 team is 23rd in the Cup standings, coming off a season where he made the Chase for the first time in his career.

Newman is also an interesting one because of his age. Expect Ty Dillon to be called up to drive full-time for his grandfather Richard Childress. The team could expand to four cars, but that’s never worked in the past. The Indiana native is someone to look forward to possibly having a new ride for 2017.

It’s very unlikely that Hamlin will leave JGR, but it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise in NASCAR history. Over his 12-year career, the 35-year-old has 27 victories driving the No. 11 machine. It’s hard to see him leaving, but with Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez waiting to be called up from the XFINITY Series, it’s worth putting him on the list. He is the biggest name driver out there without a contract for 2017, but he and Joe Gibbs have a special bond that is rare in this sport and will be tough to break.

If you have any questions about NASCAR tweet me @DustinAlbino or email me at dustinalbino20@gmail.com. Then check back next week to see if your question appears.

]]>https://frontstretch.com/2016/07/06/nascar-mailbox-chaos-at-daytona/feed/1Erik Jones Wins 1st XFINITY Pole At Poconohttps://frontstretch.com/2016/06/04/erik-jones-wins-1st-xfinity-pole-at-pocono/
Sat, 04 Jun 2016 15:11:19 +0000https://frontstretch.com/?p=118055Erik Jones will lead the XFINITY Series field to the inaugural green flag at Pocono Raceway, winning the pole for the Pocono Green 250. Ripping off a lap time of 51.158 seconds, Jones grabbed his fifth pole of 2016 and eighth of his XFINITY career. Behind the 20-year-old are Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and …

]]>Erik Jones will lead the XFINITY Series field to the inaugural green flag at Pocono Raceway, winning the pole for the Pocono Green 250.

Ripping off a lap time of 51.158 seconds, Jones grabbed his fifth pole of 2016 and eighth of his XFINITY career. Behind the 20-year-old are Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Daniel Suarez to give them a sweep of the top-3 spots.

JJ Yeley brought his No. 44 TriStar Motorsports entry to an 11th-place effort, his best non-plate start in 2016.

There was only incident throughout the two rounds of single-car qualifying. Darrell Wallace, Jr. spun his No. 6 Ford as he exited Turn 1 during his green-flag lap. Experiencing no damage, Wallace will keep his primary car but start 40th on the field.

]]>Erik Jones Grabs Monster XFINITY Victory at Doverhttps://frontstretch.com/2016/05/14/erik-jones-grabs-monster-xfinity-victory-at-dover/
Sat, 14 May 2016 21:46:32 +0000https://frontstretch.com/?p=116407Who says kids are afraid of monsters? Erik Jones sure isn’t as the 19-year-old drove to victory at Dover International Speedway to claim the win in the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 200. The victory is his second win of 2016 and fourth of his XFINITY Series career. “Coming down to a short-run, I knew we were …

Erik Jones sure isn’t as the 19-year-old drove to victory at Dover International Speedway to claim the win in the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 200. The victory is his second win of 2016 and fourth of his XFINITY Series career.

“Coming down to a short-run, I knew we were in a really good spot,” Jones said of the final six-lap shootout. “I just wasn’t sure on how many cars were going to stay out. Fortuantly enough people stayed out on that last caution that just let us have enough of a gap to tires to stay out front and bring home a win.”

Winning his second Dash 4 Cash event this year – with the first coming on the other high-banked concrete track of Bristol – Jones thinks his repeat success came down to the racetrack.

“The tracks they’re at are tracks that I’ve had historically good runs at,” Jones said. “The heat race format just gives us a chance to go out and adjust on our stuff. I don’t think that hurts our team at all.”

Coming home second was Darrell Wallace, Jr., who played strategy after the race’s final caution with 11 laps remaining to jump into the runner-up spot. Despite going to a backup car after a practice crash, Wallace grabbed his career-high effort.

“Our team, I keep saying it, we never give up,” Wallace said. “It is really a credit to my guys right here for really thrashing this thing. It is unfortunate when you do have to bring the backup car out. We never give up and we work really hard to get some speed in this baby.”

The second-place also stands as the highest XFINITY Series finish for an African-American driver as he breaks his own record of third from 2015.

Ryan Sieg impressed during heat race No. 2, finishing third in his No. 39 Chevrolet. [Photo: Zach Catanzareti]Behind Wallace was the feel-good story of the afternoon in Alex Bowman. Driving for JR Motorsports, Bowman snapped a six-month racing-free hiatus at Dover, leading 33 laps before finishing third.

“I feel like [the pressure to perform] really pushed me to stay on top of my game and work harder,” Bowman said, who has eight races remaining in his JRM deal. “I don’t have a choice. It’s either break out this year or get a real job.”

Standing as the third of four Dash 4 Cash heat racing weekends for 2016, the Monster Mile presented quite the challenge for some of the top teams in the XFINITY garage.

The first occurred during heat race No. 2 when Chip Ganassi Racing driver, Justin Marks, lost his No. 42 off Turn 4, pounded the inside wall before ricocheting into the non-protected outside wall. Marks was unable to start the 120-lap main event as it was the first accident through six heat races in 2016.

“I was just trying to hang on to it,” Marks said. “It was a pretty good hit. The car is junk. I hate that we came all this way and we don’t really get to race today.”

Joining Marks on the Miles the Monster’s hit list is Paul Menard, Brandon Jones, Ryan Reed and Brendan Gaughan who all found trouble throughout the race.

A few small teams jumped into the top 20 as JJ Yeley came home 11th for TriStar Motorsports, tying the team’s best non-plate result since Road America in 2014. Drew Herring made his first XFINITY start since 2013, finishing 14th while Ryan Sieg, Ray Black, Jr. and BJ McLeod grabbed solid top 20s.

]]>Darrell Wallace, Matt Tifft Fastest In Talladega XFINITY Practice Sessionshttps://frontstretch.com/2016/04/29/wallace-tifft-fastest-in-xfinity-series-practice-from-talladega/
Fri, 29 Apr 2016 19:30:21 +0000https://frontstretch.com/?p=115409Darrell Wallace, Jr. and Matt Tifft were the fastest drivers in the first and second practice sessions on Friday for the Xfinity Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. Both practice sessions were 55 minutes in length and will be the only XFINITY Series practice sessions this weekend at the legendary Alabama track. The first session had most cars …

]]>Darrell Wallace, Jr. and Matt Tifft were the fastest drivers in the first and second practice sessions on Friday for the Xfinity Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Both practice sessions were 55 minutes in length and will be the only XFINITY Series practice sessions this weekend at the legendary Alabama track. The first session had most cars drafting around and working on race trim while the second session had single-car mock qualifying runs.

There were no accidents in either session.

Practice One

The first practice session had Wallace first on the board after a lap at 49.768 seconds (192.413 mph). He was followed closely behind by teammate Ryan Reed’s 192.355 mph. Time wise, only .015 seconds separated the two Roush Fenway Fords.

Ty Dillon ended the session third at 191.827 mph. Dillon comes into this weekend with an average finish of 14.9 in his past nine restrictor plate races in this series. Tifft was fourth and was the fastest Toyota at 191.670 mph.

Only 33 total cars ran in this session, and all of them ran mock qualifying laps out of the draft. Tifft was the fastest in this session at 181.918 mph. This is only Tifft’s second race in the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, after wrecking at Richmond. He also finished 21st at Daytona this year in JGL Racing‘s No. 24, his only other XFINITY Series restrictor plate start.

Ty Dillon was second at 181.515 mph, followed by his teammate Brandon Jones at 180.346 mph in third. Daniel Suarez heads to Talladega looking for just his second top 10 in restrictor plate races in this series, and ended up fourth in this session.

Jeremy Clements, who holds two top ten finishes at Daytona and Talladega, ended the session fifth. Clements is a definite underdog going into Saturday’s race, but with how equal cars are in the draft don’t be surprised to see the independent driver have a good finish.